- Social media restrictions imposed in Afghanistan on October 7 have led many to turn to VPNs
- Proton VPN registered spikes in use of +35,000% over baseline
- The ban on social media follows a 48-hour complete internet closure on September 29, 2025
Afghans have turned to VPN services in a lot since last Tuesday, October 7, when authorities began to limit access to popular social media platforms.
Proton VPN, a popular free VPN, experienced spikes in the use of +35,000% above baseline. Researchers at Top10VPN have registered an increase in VPN demand of 574% so far compared to the daily average over the 28 days before.
When talking to the BBC, the Taliban government sources confirmed that some social media content is limited without giving any formal explanation.
While it is not clear what type of positions are subject to these restrictions, the source said the filtering is “almost used for the entire county and most provinces are covered now.”
According to data collected by Internet Watchdog Netblocks, access to Instagram, Facebook, X, Tiktok and Snapchat is completely limited to several providers across the country. In addition, Netblocks reported some regional internet closures of curfew in Kandahar.
There is no indication that social media disruptions have been lifted at the time of writing.
The social media block comes only a week after the Taliban government completely closed the Internet and Telephone Services for 48 hours as a way to “prevent immoral.” In this case, not even the best VPN apps had been able to help citizens stay online.
How a VPN can help
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) encrypts Internet connections while countering users’ IP addresses.
The latter skill is exactly what is needed to bypass restrictions such as those in place in Afghanistan right now.
You can connect to a VPN server based outside Afghanistan (and any other country enforcing similar limitations) to fool the local ISP (ISP) to give access to censored sites.
In 2025 alone, Proton VPN has registered spikes in VPN use 25 times so far, with most of these events related to state imposed restrictions on certain apps in times of political turmoil or on child security.
In Nepal, for example, a 5-day ban on social media provoked an over 8,000% increase in VPN registrations in September. This happened on the same week that Turkey enforced a 24-hour blockade on all major social media apps.
At the time of writing, Proton also detects high VPN use from Cameroon as the country is waiting for the election results after Sunday’s vote. People in Jordan have also turned to Proton VPN since October 8, when authorities banned disagreement.
While Proton VPN Free is among the most secure freebies out there, along with Privado VPN Free and Windscribe Free, I recommend checking our best cheap VPN guide if you want to get premium protection for a fraction of the price.
